i got a funny sensation about this vacation

Know the song? No? Well, regardless, last week we ditched the bi-polar weather of the Midwest and dusted off our flip-flops for this:

That, mi amigos, is a casita at the Marquis Hotel in Los Cabos, Mexico. After five days, I’m convinced everyone should take an opportunity to visit our neighbors to the south every few years if for no other reason than to brush up on your Spanglish (we’re fluent, especially after a few Pacificos).

Want me to rub it in just a bit more? Watch my awesomely awkward tour of our hotel room:

Yeah, in case you skipped it, I said “private roof-top pool.” If the bambinos had been in tow, we probably would have taken up residence. But enough about the room. I can’t tell you most of what happened in there any way ;)

The night of our arrival, the hotel arranged a private dinner on the beach for us complete with a full bar and the coolest fire pits built from sand. Clearly, we weren’t yet in vacation mode because we neglected to even take a camera. Butletmetellya, ah-mazing. They even brought out pashminas for warmth after the sun went down.

Our first morning, the hubs headed off for this…

Apparently the Cabo Del Sol golf course has a couple holes that require teeing off over the sea—it was seriously better than Christmas for the hubs.

While he did what he loves to do, I was happily carting it around both San José and Cabo San Lucas, hitting up various shopping spots. Most people are familiar with Cabo San Lucas but we learned that Los Cabos is a popular area of the Baja peninsula. The airport is located in San José, about a half hour from Cabo San Lucas. The hotel, Marquis, is about halfway between the two towns. The best part about the hotel location is that it’s 15 minutes to either town meaning lots of options for restaurants and activity (which we absolutely took advantage of).

It’s really impressive I didn’t make any purchases at Luxury Avenue in Cabo San Lucas, even after seeing such enticing deals.

With all of the areas and shops we went to, the best was a place called Artesanos which is off the beaten path. It has all of the great authentic Mexican pieces in a warehouse for the best price in town. And they don’t haggle. WhatcanIsay? You can take the girl out of her country but you can’t take the cheap out of the girl. The purchase-adverse side of me (don’t even try to argue that it exists Mr. Davis) found comfort in knowing this place had the best selection for the lowest cost. I picked up a few things including a set of colorful knobs that are currently trying to find a home on a set of closet doors in our house (tip: don’t Google “knob screw extender” to figure out how to install your new, too short knobs).

Shopping is supposed to be a girl’s favorite past time and all, but I turned into the geeky camera-yielding foreigner when we swung by The Glass Factory.

The people are so talented and make the process look easy. I was in love with how they took their art and incorporated into the facility. Yes, that’s glass inset in brick and a tree adorned with glass ornaments. A vase and ornament made it back with me after seeing just how it’s all made. True art I tell you.

That afternoon we spent about an hour sitting by the pool making sure that the back of my right arm got sufficiently sunburned. That night we rode to dinner in style by hopping on a boat in San José and zooming down the coastline to Cabo San Lucas, making sure we paused for some blurry pics by the arch.

The arch is where the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean meet. Cool, no?

The hubs was introduced to his first Mexican coffee at Edith’s Restaurant after our meal. It involves some fire and Kahlua, of course. We like how the Mexicans think. And after eating while starring at these twinkling stars, I’m ready to plant several trees in our backyard just to get this effect.

And a night out in Cabo San Lucas would not have been complete without hitting up Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina. We learned this place has an odd effect on men that makes them think they are prime bar top dancing material. Here are our travel buddies, Terry and Marilyn, living it up:

I was careful not to enjoy one too many Coronas this night knowing we would be spending half a day deep sea fishing. Did you know the boat only stops if you catch a fish? My stomach and I were both surprised to learn that the next day.

Thankfully, the time was well spent because the hubs wrangled in all 140 lbs and 9 feet of this bad boy:

Mr. Marlin got another chance at life that day. The hubs is a smart man who knows mounted fish isn’t exactly the look we’re going for at home so he threw him back. Shawn is all about deep sea fishing again after that thrill. I’m so glad I got the experience…but next time he goes, I’ll plan on catching rays of sun by the pool instead.

After the land had stopped rocking, we went for a walking tour of San José and had dinner at Morgan’s Restaurant.

Great food and fabulous atmosphere, of course, but a highlight was bringing in a new friend. This guy:

This tequila connoisseur clued us in that real tequila does not cause cringing—crazy talk, right? But he’s right. We learned (because tequila tastings are nothing if not educational) that real quality tequila is made from “100% pure Agave.” Jose Cuervo, according to our new friend, is made with only 49% tequila and 51% cane rum, hence the sideways shiver it gives you.

This education was reiterated the next day. We zip lined and repelled over the canons but, unfortunately, I have zero pictures of the zip line experience at the moment since they had us leave our camera behind. At the spot where we zip lined (somewhere in San José—wish I had the name of the place!), they have their own distillery. At the end of excursion, we got a brief tour by one of their guys:

In a very convincing schpeal, he informed us the “100% Pure Agave” stuff is incredibly difficult to come by in the states. You can imagine our disappointment. Hence, we made sure to stock up (we’re thinking a little Davis fiesta and tasting at home sometime soon to pop those suckers open). Rest assured, we opted for a *a-hem* flatter bottle.

Flora’s Field Kitchen and Farm was next on the agenda. It may be that I’m a “gringo,” but this isn’t a place I’ll forget easily. It’s a completely organic farm and restaurant outside of San José. Think all-organic Panera on steroids if Panera grew all of its own food on site. I ordered a BLT complete with bacon that costs $50/lb it’s so good. I made up for all that bacon by opting for a “Farmarita.”

The Farmarita is a rita made with carrots. Including carrots makes it healthy by default, right? If not, don’t burst my bubble. Shawn claims he was able to taste the carrots—it’s all mental I tell you because I couldn’t even notice when I tried.

We headed back to the hotel for a trip to the Marquis Spa where the hubs got a massage and I got a facial. The best part about the hotel is that you can hear the waves crash on the beach no matter where you are—no wave sound machine needed at this spa!

We wrapped up our final night at the Marquis with a poolside dinner complete with an order-your-own-crêpe station and an amazing singer to serenade the group. Does this hotel know how to do it right or what? After dinner we sat and sipped coffee while watching fireworks down the beach. Just thinking about it makes me think I was probably just dreaming up the whole night.

Just as the country song goes, we seriously considered becoming taxi drivers and never coming home. BUT the next morning we headed back to reality (and our own ironing) in hopes that we’ll be back again soon.

Where should we go next? Barcelona? Italy? I’m thinking we need to plan something overseas since neither of us have ever been. Suggestions are welcome :)